Sleepy Hollow Sleepover Read online

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose aren’t the only kid detectives!

  What about you?

  Can you find the hidden message inside this book?

  There are 26 illustrations in this book, not counting the one on the title page, the map at the beginning, or the picture of the jack-o’-lantern that repeats at the start of many of the chapters. In each of the 26 illustrations, there’s a hidden letter. If you can find all the letters, you will spell out a secret message!

  If you’re stumped, the answer is on the bottom of this page.

  Happy detecting!

  This book is dedicated to parents who read to their children.

  —R.R.

  To the residents of the real Tarrytown, New York,

  all of whom have level heads on their shoulders

  —J.S.G.

  Contents

  Dedication

  Title Page

  Map

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Copyright

  CHAPTER 1

  “Starting today, I’m changing my ice cream flavor,” Josh said. He was staring into the Sweet Youth Ice Cream Shop window. “From now on, I’m only eating raspberry!”

  “But you always choose pistachio,” Dink said. “I’ve known you five years, and it’s pistachio every time.”

  Josh shrugged. “I guess I’m tired of green,” he said.

  Ruth Rose poked the boys. “How about that green, Josh?” she asked. “Green money!”

  An armored truck had pulled up to the bank, next to the ice cream shop. Three men wearing dark green uniforms unloaded bags of money onto a cart. Two of the guards pushed the cart through the glass doors into the bank. The third man watched over the truck.

  Josh grinned. “Can’t I have red ice cream and green money?” he asked.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were in Tarrytown, New York. It was Halloween day, and families from all over had come to Tarrytown for a big party and haunted hayride. Dink watched some kids and their parents enter the ice cream shop next to the bank.

  The guards came out of the bank with the empty cart, climbed into the truck, and drove away.

  Ruth Rose walked to the bank window. She tapped a finger against the glass. “This hayride is going to be so cool!” she said.

  The kids read the sign hanging inside the window. It said:

  DON’T MISS THE HAUNTED HAYRIDE

  AND HALLOWEEN PARTY TONIGHT!

  FOOD, GAMES, A BONFIRE,

  AND LOTS OF SPOOKY STUFF!

  AND WATCH OUT FOR THE

  HEADLESS HORSEMAN!

  HE’LL BE WATCHING YOU!

  In the window, behind the sign, stood a big brown horse. A curtain separated the horse from the rest of the bank. The kids knew that the horse was fake, but it looked real. On top of the horse sat a dummy of a man dressed in black. A cloak hung from his shoulders. But his head was missing.

  “How can the headless horseman be watching us?” Josh asked. “The dude has no eyes! Who is that guy, anyway?”

  Ruth Rose opened her book bag. In it were her Swiss Army knife, a couple of books, and her cell phone. She pulled out a guidebook for New York State and opened to the pages about Tarrytown.

  “Listen to this,” she said. “A writer named Washington Irving wrote a story called ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.’ It was about a schoolteacher named Ichabod Crane who lived here, in Tarrytown. He was—”

  “Hey, I saw that movie!” Josh said.

  “Yeah, but first it was a book, Josh,” Dink said. “Keep reading, Ruth Rose.”

  “Anyway, this teacher was in love with a woman named Katrina,” Ruth Rose went on. “But some other guy loved her, too. His name was Brom Bones. So in the story, Mr. Bones dressed up as a headless horseman to scare Ichabod Crane out of town.”

  “Did it work?” Josh asked.

  Ruth Rose read more. “Yup. Old Ichabod mysteriously disappeared, and Katrina married Brom Bones.”

  “But it was all fake, right?” Josh asked. “There really was no headless horseman?”

  Ruth Rose read some more. “Brom Bones didn’t want anyone to know that he was the headless horseman. So he told people it was the ghost of a soldier who had lost his head in a battle,” she said. “And at night, his ghost rides around Tarrytown looking for the head!”

  “Gross!” Josh cried.

  “Look, guys,” Dink said, pointing at the window. A woman had stepped out from behind the curtain. She opened a hidden door in the side of the horse. The woman reached an arm inside the horse, then pulled it back out. She disappeared behind the curtain again.

  Suddenly the horse’s head moved up and down. Then the legs and feet started pumping in place. The man on the horse’s back leaned forward, like a jockey in a race. One hand began slapping the horse with a small whip. The horse looked like it was running!

  “This is so awesome!” Ruth Rose said. “It’s a mechanical horse!” She handed her book to Dink, pulled out her cell phone, and snapped a bunch of pictures.

  A crowd of people had gathered to watch the horse and rider. One little boy started to cry. “That’s a scary man!” he said.

  The boy’s father scooped him up. “It’s not real, Simon,” the man said. “It’s just a big action figure. That man is only a stuffed doll.”

  “He’s scary and I hate him!” Simon howled. “And I want ice cream now!”

  The man laughed, then carried the little boy into the ice cream shop.

  “We’re looking at our own private piñata,” a quiet voice said from behind Dink. Dink glanced at the window and saw a reflection of two men. They wore dark glasses and baseball caps.

  “Yeah, and tomorrow Bonnie will fill it with green candy!” the man’s buddy said.

  After a few minutes, the mechanical horse began to slow down. Finally, it stopped moving altogether. The crowd of people drifted away.

  “That was so cool,” Ruth Rose said.

  “He’s scary and I hate him!” Josh whined, sounding just like little Simon. “And I want ice cream now!”

  Dink laughed.

  As the three kids backed away from the window, Dink stepped on someone’s toes. “Sorry,” he said.

  He turned to the two men he had overheard talking about a piñata.

  “No problem, kid,” one of the men said. He pointed to his feet. He was wearing cowboy boots with silver toes. “Nothing can hurt these.”

  The man’s friend pulled on his arm. “Come on, Ace, we have work to do.”

  Ace and his friend walked away.

  “Come on,” Josh said, mimicking the man’s gruff voice. “We have ice cream to do!” He pulled Dink and Ruth Rose into the ice cream shop.

  CHAPTER 2

  Licking their ice cream cones, the kids walked to the edge of town. They took a footpath that led into a forest. The tall trees blocked out the October sun.

  “How’s the new flavor?” Ruth Rose asked Josh. She had chosen strawberry, her favorite. Dink’s cone was maple walnut.

  “My brain thinks it’s okay,” Josh said. “But my tongue keeps expecting to taste pistachio.”

  Dink poked Josh. “What brain?”

  Josh poked him back. “The brain that’s going to whip you in Monopoly tonight,” he said.

  “We won’t have time to finish a whole game,” Ruth Rose said. She glanced at her watch. “It’s almost five o’clock, and the hayride is at seven.”

  Josh pushed out his chest. “The way I play, I’ll be rich by six-th
irty!” he boasted.

  They were staying with Dink’s father in a small cabin in the forest. A few other families had rented cabins, too. Each cabin was named after something creepy. Dink’s dad had chosen one called Haunted House. The name was painted on a sign on the front porch railing.

  When they reached the cabin, Dink’s father was sitting in a rocking chair on the porch. An open book was in his lap.

  “Hey, kids,” he said as they approached. “How was town?”

  “A lot of other kids are here for the hayride,” Ruth Rose told him.

  “And we saw a headless horseman, only it was fake,” Josh said.

  “What’re you reading, Dad?” Dink asked.

  His father held up the book. “It’s a history of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow,” he said.

  “Is there really a headless horseman who rides around looking for his head?” Josh asked Mr. Duncan.

  “Why, I believe there is,” Dink’s father answered. He pointed to a map in his book. “This is the area we’re in right now. According to legend, this is where the original headless horseman scared Ichabod Crane out of town.”

  “Aw, Mr. Duncan, you’re messing with me, right?” Josh asked.

  Dink’s father grinned. “Would I tease you, Josh?” he asked.

  “Come on,” Dink said. “If we’re going to play Monopoly, we should get started.”

  “You kids hungry?” Dink’s father asked. “Oh, never mind. I see ice cream on your lips.”

  “Yeah, Josh whined until we bought him some,” Dink said.

  Inside the cabin, Dink went toward a small chest under a window. Painted on its side was the word GAMES. He opened the chest, and a skeleton popped up.

  “Oh my gosh!” Dink yelled, jumping back.

  Josh and Ruth Rose laughed. They ran around the cabin pulling open drawers and peeking inside cupboards and closets. They found a witch in a closet, a bunch of fake bats in a drawer, and a goblin in the bathroom.

  “Dad, who did all this?” Dink asked his father.

  “Maybe the headless horseman got in here,” his dad said in a creepy voice. “I wonder what he put inside your sleeping bags!” He crumpled some paper and started a fire in the fireplace.

  “Ha!” Josh said. He glanced at their three sleeping bags stacked in a corner.

  The kids finally found the Monopoly game. They set it up on the floor in front of the crackling fire.

  A half hour later, Dink looked up. “Did you hear something?” he asked the others.

  “Don’t try to change the subject,” Josh said. “You’re losing big-time!”

  “I’m not changing the subject,” Dink said. “I heard something, like running feet.”

  Dink got up and walked over to the window. It had grown dark outside. He saw his reflection in the glass and the flickering flames of the fire behind him.

  He heard it again, a thudding noise. Then he saw a light among the dark trees. “Guys, come here!” he said.

  Dink’s father, Josh, and Ruth Rose joined him at the window.

  “What is it, son?” Dink’s father asked.

  “I saw a light,” Dink whispered. “It was moving through the trees.”

  “If you’re messing around, I …,” Josh started to say. Then he gasped.

  A horse raced out of the trees, past the cabin window. A rider carrying a jack-o’-lantern sat on the horse’s back.

  The horse stopped, and the rider held the jack-o’-lantern high in the air.

  “What on earth is anyone doing riding around in the dark?” Dink’s father asked.

  Dink noticed the flowing cloak, just like on the rider he’d seen in the bank window. Only this one wasn’t fake. This was a real man and a real horse.

  Then Dink looked above the man’s shoulders. There was nothing there.

  “I think he’s looking for his head,” Dink whispered.

  “IT’S THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN!” Ruth Rose screamed in Josh’s ear.

  “Lock the door!” Josh wailed.

  “No way!” Ruth Rose said. She grabbed her cell phone. “I’m getting a picture of this!”

  “I’ll go with you,” Dink said. “Coming, Josh?”

  “Not for a million dollars!” Josh said.

  CHAPTER 3

  Dink and Ruth Rose ran outside. They were just in time to see the headless horseman gallop past. Ruth Rose held up her phone and snapped a picture.

  The horse and rider disappeared into the trees.

  “Did you get the picture?” Dink asked.

  “I don’t know,” Ruth Rose said. She hit a few buttons on her phone. “Look, I just got a blur. He was going too fast.”

  They headed back to the cabin. Josh opened the door and peeked out. He looked scared.

  “Don’t worry, he’s gone,” Ruth Rose said.

  “So am I!” Josh said. “Where’s the phone? I’m calling a taxi!”

  Dink laughed. “Josh, we’re in the middle of the woods,” he said. “A taxi would charge a ton of money to come out here. And you don’t have any money. Remember, I had to pay for your ice cream today.”

  “Then I’ll walk home,” Josh said. “I’m not staying where guys with no heads hang out. Mr. Duncan, how far is it back to Green Lawn?”

  “Over a hundred miles, Josh,” Dink’s father said. “It would take you until tomorrow night to make it home.”

  Ruth Rose grinned. “If some bear didn’t eat you first!” she said. “I heard there are lots of bears in these woods.”

  “Then I’ll hitchhike,” Josh said.

  “Maybe a certain guy on a certain horse will pick you up,” Dink said wickedly.

  “You guys aren’t scaring me,” Josh said.

  Dink, his father, and Ruth Rose just looked at Josh.

  Josh grinned. “Okay, you are scaring me!”

  “Josh, do you really think that guy had no head?” Dink asked.

  “I saw him, Dinkus,” Josh said. “There was nothing above his collar!”

  “It must have been a trick,” Ruth Rose said. “His head was probably tucked down inside his cape, where we couldn’t see it.”

  “The hayride wagon should be here soon,” Dink’s father said. He poked the fire and picked up his book. The kids went back to the Monopoly board.

  “You landed on one of my hotels!” Josh cried a few minutes later. He grinned at Dink. “You owe me two thousand dollars!”

  Dink groaned and counted his money. “I only have about four hundred,” he said.

  “You’ll have to finish the game later,” Dink’s father said. He stood and glanced out the window. “The wagon is here.”

  “Yay!” Dink yelled.

  Ruth Rose grabbed three masks from a table next to the sofa. She, Dink, and Josh had decided to get Three Stooges masks. She was Larry, Dink was Curly, and Josh had chosen the Moe mask.

  “Take your sweaters,” Dink’s father said. “It’ll get colder tonight.”

  The kids pulled on their sweaters and their masks and ran to open the door. A wagon stood in the clearing in front of the cabin steps. The wagon was piled with hay, and a few kids were lying in it.

  A big, long-legged workhorse was hitched to the wagon. It had a droopy mane and huge feet. A driver wearing a big coat and floppy hat sat up front, holding the reins.

  A girl popped out of the hay and smiled down at Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. She was dressed as a cowgirl. “I like your masks,” she said. “Come on up! There’s a ladder in the back.”

  “Call me when you get to the party,” Dink’s father said. “Driver, what time will you bring them back?”

  “Ten o’clock,” the driver said. His voice was deep, like it came from a hollow place.

  Dink shivered. Something about this driver was strange. Was it just his deep voice? And why wouldn’t he look at them?

  Dink walked to the back of the wagon. Josh and Ruth Rose had already climbed up and were half buried in the hay pile.

  Dink found the ladder and joined the other kids in the hay. He
flopped on his back and took off his mask. He looked up at the moon shining through the trees and took a deep breath. The hay smelled sweet, like a kitten’s breath.

  “I’m Candy,” the girl said. “And these are my brothers, Adam and Andy. We’re from New York City.”

  One of the boys wore a black mask that covered his eyes, ears, forehead, and hair. The top part of the mask had small, pointy ears. The other brother’s mask covered just his eyes.

  “I’m Batman,” said the first boy. He pointed at his brother. “That’s Andy. He’s supposed to be Robin, my trusty sidekick!”

  Andy grinned. Above his mask, he had pieces of hay stuck in his curly blond hair.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose introduced themselves. “We’re from Green Lawn, Connecticut,” Dink said.

  “We were here last year, too,” Adam said. He was tall and lanky, with a wide grin.

  The horse plodded through the woods. After a few minutes, it stopped next to a tree. Halfway up the trunk, Dink saw a wide black hole. The driver reached over and thumped the trunk with a pole he’d had on the seat next to him.

  Suddenly an explosion of black flying objects erupted from the hole. High-pitched squeaking filled the air around the wagon. Dink saw, heard, and felt hundreds of bats darting past him into the night.

  “DIVE!” Ruth Rose screamed. The six kids buried themselves in the hay. Dink could hear giggling and felt the hay scratching his face.

  Then they heard the driver laughing. The wagon lurched forward, and once more the horse trudged along.

  “You planned that, right?” Josh asked the driver. Like the other kids on the wagon, Josh had hay stuck in his hair.

  The driver didn’t answer. He flicked the horse’s neck with the reins.

  The horse continued walking forward, not at all bothered by the bats.

  Josh crawled back to the other kids. “That guy’s creeping me out,” he said. “There’s something weird about him. He doesn’t talk. What if he kidnaps us? What if he’s really a ghoul and he takes us to his cave and—”